Yet when the silent evening sighs, The autumn leaf is sear and dead, The woods and winds, with sullen wail, LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. RECENT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS. By William P. Farrand and Co. Philadelphia, published, THE whole Proceedings in the case of Olmsted and others, versus Rittenhouse's Executors-collected and arranged, by Richard Peters, jun. By William Duane, Philadelphia, republished, An Essay on the Principle of Population; or, a View of its past and present effects on Human happiness; with an Inquiry into our prospects respecting the future removal or mitigation of the evils which it occasions. By T. R. Malthus, A. M_late fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. 2 vols. By Bradford and Inskeep, Philadelphia, published, A new Novel, by the author of the Horrours of St. Domingo, entitled, "Laura." Die mutter starb, ich fand mich mit win selbst Ein schwaches rohr, und in dem sturm allem. Gothe in Sancred. 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Principal of Marischal college, Aberdeen. In one large vol. 8vo. price 9s. in boards. Woman; or, Ida of Athens. By Miss Owenson. "Nul doyte qu'on ne s'elevat aux plus grandes choses si l'on avoit l'amour pour precepteur, et que la main de la beau te jetta dans notre ame les semences de l'esprit, et de la vertu."-Helvetius. In 4 vols. 12mo. price 21s. boards. SELECT REVIEWS. FOR MAY, 1809. FROM THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. Elisabeth, ou les Exilés de Siberié. Par Mme. Cottin. A Paris. Réimprimé à Londres. Elizabeth; or the Exiles of Siberia: A tale founded on facts. From the French of Madame Cottin. M. Carey, Philadelphia. 1808. 12mo. pp. 262. WE are not, in general, particularly fond of novels founded on fact; but we must make an exception in favour of any thing so well executed as that which is now before us. The daughter of a wretched exile in Siberia had the courage and filial piety to undertake and to perform a journey to Petersburgh, for the purpose of soliciting her father's liberty. This achievement, worthy of immortality, is the groundwork of Madame Cottin's tale, and we give her no mean praise in saying that she has done full justice to its merits. In one only respect is she unfaithful to her model. She has diminished, in her ideal picture, the dangers which the true heroine actually surmounted, from the fear, as she informs us, of incurring the charge of extravagance. This, therefore, must add one to the many instances, in which the miracles of truth have soared above the level of fiction, and in which imaginary must yield to real virtue. The character of Elizabeth, as here drawn, is in its general form and feature, such as might, we think, have been expected from the hand of a lady-artist. It is so natural that women should love to make their heroines a little heroick; that they should delight to place female excellence in attitudes noble no less than charming; that, resigning to us the empire of personal, and perhaps of intellectual power, they should still maintain an equal claim to the moral sublime,-to that higher sort of greatness which, like angels, seems to be of no sex. To those women who have any real elevation of thought, nothing can be more disgusting than the character of a Thalestris. They hate, as much as we do, the vigorous females who appear to constitute the link between the sexes; and will not condescend to write the history of a virago, who is the exact duplicate of her stupid lovers, fights and drubs every one of them whose offers displease her, and bestows her hand only on him who is found to have a stronger and harder one of his own. Their heroine is in a different style. Perhaps she is not particularly distinguished even for that chastened loftiness which may consist with virgin delicacy, the loftiness of a Portia or a Corinne, of la dame Romaine or la Sibylle triomphant; perhaps she is not even an Elizabeth, innocently, and, as it were unconsciously magnanimous; but is represented as all gentleness and diffidence. Still we shall find her insensibly led through scenes which show her to possess fortitude and disinterestedness and other virtues of the first order; we shall be B b VOL. I. seduced into respect, where we were desired only to love; with the weakness that solicits protection, we shall find blended, not only all the sweetness that attracts, but much also of the dignity that ennobles it. We are aware of the numerous exceptions to this rule; but, that it is not therefore imaginary, may appear from a reference to the Delphines and Corinnes of France; and to the Cecilias, the Ellenas, and the Belindas of England. In the same manner, the delineations of female excellence by the other sex, often present us with a figure of imperial majesty; but we cannot help thinking that, when they draw after their own notions and conceptions rather than from books, they are more likely to give us an Ophelia or a Desdemona. Madame Cottin has, in one respect, been particularly happy. Her heroine has been educated in such solitude and inacquaintance with the world, that her childlike simplicity, and engaging innocence of demeanour, seem perfectly in character, though they are the accompaniments of a heart uncommonly great and noble. There is nothing in her features hard or haughty; nothing that seems to exclaim with one of the heroines of Corneille : Je me fais des vertus dignes d'une Romaine. But, indeed, the mind that conceived this character can best do it jus tice; and the reader shall therefore be indulged with a trait or two of the representation. Two or three versts from Saimka, in the centre of a marshy forest, upon the border of a deep circular lake, surrounded with black poplars, was the residence of one of these banished families. It consisted of three persons-A man about five and forty, his wife, and a young and beautiful daughter. Secluded in the desert, this family held no communication with any one. The father went alone to the chace; but neither had he, his wife, or daughter, been ever seen at Saimka. Except one poor Tartar peasant, who waited on them, no human being had admission to their dwelling. The governour of Tobolskow only was informed of their birth, their country, and the cause of their banishment. The secret he had not even confided to the lieutenant of his jurisdiction, who was established at Saimka. In committing the exiles to his care, he had only given orders that they might be provided with a commodious lodging, a garden, food, and raiment, accompanied with a strict charge to hinder them from any communications whatever, and particularly to intercept any letter they might attempt to convey to the court of Russia. p. 14-15. After a very striking sketch of Siberian scenery, the writer proceeds: West of this great plain, a little wooden chapel had been erected by the Christians. On this side, the tombs had been respected; under the cross which adorned it, the honoured memorial of every virtue, men had not dared to profane the ashes of the dead. In these plains or steppes (the name they bear in Siberia) Peter Springer, during the long and severe winter of this northern climate, spent his days in hunting. He killed elks which feed on the leaves of the willow and poplar; sometimes caught martens, and more frequently ermines, which are very numerous in that spot. With the money he obtained for their fur, he procured from Tobolskow different articles which might contribute to the comfort of his wife, or the education of his daughter. The long winter evenings were dedicated to the instruction of the young Elizabeth. Seated between her parents, she read aloud some passage of history, while Springer called her attention to those parts which could elevate her mind, and Phedora, her mother, to all those which could render it tender and compassionate. One pointed out to her the beauties of heroism and glory; the other all the charms of piety and benevolence. Her father reminded her of the dignity and sublimity of virtue; her mother of the support and consolation it affords. The first taught how highly to re vere, the latter how carefully to cherish it. From these combined instructions Eliza beth acquired a disposition equally heroick and gentle, uniting the courage and energy of Springer to the angelick mildness of Phedora. She was at once ardent and enterprising as the exalted ideas of honour she had imbibed could render her, docile and submissive as the votary of love. p. 18-20. The young Elizabeth knew no other country than that desolate one, which, from the age of four years, she had inhabited. In that she discovered beauties which |